Microscopy systems in which a microscope is provided with an electronic camera having an electronic image-detecting device, such as a CCD array that is used to capture images of a sample for electronic display, have come to be increasingly used. For instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H8-190056 relates to this kind of system. Electronic image-detecting devices such as CCD arrays have a tendency to be less sensitive to light flux that is incident obliquely, and the larger the angle of incidence, the less sensitive they become. Therefore, a so-called xe2x80x9cshadingxe2x80x9d phenomenon occurs, in which displayed images from such image-detecting devices tend to have dark peripheral areas and thus uneven brightness over the field of view.
The present invention relates to: (1) a microscope middle barrel having an optical relay system, and relates, in particular, to a middle barrel for relaying enlarged images of a sample onto an electronic image-detecting device; (2) a microscope provided with such an optical relay system; and (3) a method of using these apparatus.
The object of the invention is to provide electronically displayed images without brightness artifacts causing uneven brightness over the field of view in the situation where an electronic image-detecting device, such as a CCD array, has been used to detect the images formed by a microscope.
A middle barrel for achieving the object of the invention includes a mount for connecting an electronic image-detecting device, a mount for connecting a microscope, an optical relay system for relaying images onto the electronic image-detecting device, and a control member having a transmissive region which transmits light and a shading region which blocks light, with the control member being used to make the detected images have a more uniform brightness over the field of view.